Here’s hoping our readers had a happy and healthy 2012. We will catch up again in the New Year!

Quote of the day

Howard Lindzon, “Cheap is a dangerous term in investing.”  (Howard Lindzon)

Chart of the day

Lumber futures are at an 8-year high.  (WSJ cautionary Bloomberg)

Markets

Market tendencies change: see the last trading day of the year.  (Quantifiable Edges)

Stop looking for edges in the ultra-short term.  (Dynamic Hedge)

A look back at one of the more prescient calls in 2012.  (research puzzle pix)

Portfolio insurance for free (sort of).  (VIX and More)

Strategy

In 2012 I learned that…. (The Reformed Broker)

Ten new must-read investing blogs.  (Mick Weinstein)

Aswath Damodaran, “Having a long time horizon is the best protection against taxes.”  (Musings on Markets)

Why women are better retirement planners.  (Robert Seawright)

A few notes on James Weatherall’s The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable.  (CXO Advisory Group also Minyanville)

Companies

Successful mobile apps need data: calling Apple ($AAPL).  (WSJ)

The worst footnote of 2012 was… (footnoted)

Finance

20% of deposits in US banks are going to lose their insurance tomorrow.  (NYTimes)

One of the problems with hedge funds these days is that they are misnamed.  (Market Safari)

Duff and Phelps ($DUF) to go private.  (Dealbook, WSJ, Term Sheet)

Funds

Happy New Year!  iShares hikes fees on a scad of ETFs.  (IndexUniverse)

A complete list of new ETFs in 2012.  (ETFdb)

The biggest mutual fund surprises of 2012.  (Morningstar)

Global

2012 was another year driven by the world’s central bankers.  (Gavyn Davies)

Does the market really believe that Japan can pull off higher inflation?   (Tim Duy)

China’s manufacturing economy is once again expanding.  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

Economy

Checking in on the ECRI recession call.  (dshort)

Nominations for the top economics stories of 2012.  (EconLog)

The fiscal cliff is affecting consumer sentiment.  (Sober Look also Slate)

Why is the 30-year mortgage rate a lot lower?  (Liberty Street Economics)

Earlier on Abnormal Returns

Authors pick their favorite finance books for 2012.  (Abnormal Returns)

Resolutions

Why not resolve to do less in 2013?  (Slate)

Don’t tell any one about your New Year’s resolutions.  (Scientific American)

Mixed media

Reason #251 to turn off cable news: the fiscal cliff.  (The Reformed Broker)

StockTwits isn’t just for amateurs any more.  (UpsideTrader)

Starting a blog: the pros and cons.  (mathbabe)

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